Bulletin of the Asia Institute

Evo ṣuyadi Essays in Honor of Richard Salomon’s 65th Birthday

New Series/Volume 23

2009

Edited by Carol Altman Bromberg, Timothy J. Lenz, and Jason Neelis

Published with the assistance of the Neil Kreitman Foundation (U.K.) Contents

Foreword 1 Michael Shapiro Richard Salomon: A Personal Tribute 5 Mark Allon A Gāndhārī Version of the Story of the Merchants Tapussa and Bhallika 9 Stefan Baums Inscribed Buddhist Tablets from Merv 21 Daniel Boucher What Do We Mean by “Early” in the Study of the Early Mahāyāna—and Should We Care? 33 Robert L. Brown Telling the Story in Art of the Monkey’s Gift of Honey to the Buddha 43 Collett Cox What’s in a Name? School Affiliation in an Early Buddhist Gāndhārī Manuscript 53 Harry Falk Making Wine in Gandhara under Buddhist Monastic Supervision 65 Andrew Glass Bha 79 Paul Harrison Verses by Śāntideva in the Śikṣāsamuccaya: A New English Translation 87 Jens-Uwe Hartmann The Foolish Cat and the Clever Mouse: Another Parable from an Unknown Story Collection 105 Stephanie W. Jamison An Indo-Iranian Priestly Title Lurking in the Rig Veda? An Indic Equivalent to Avestan karapan 111 Seishi Karashima On Amitābha, Amitāyu(s), Sukhāvatī and the Amitābhavyūha 121 Klaus Karttunen Gandhāra and the Greeks 131 Timothy Lenz Ephemeral Dharma; Magical Hope 135 Abdur Rehman A Note on the Etymology of Gandhāra 143 Juhyung Rhi The Garuḍa and the Nāgī/Nāga in the Headdresses of Gandhāran Bodhisattvas: Locating Textual Parallels 147 Ludo Rocher and Indian Epigraphy and the Asiatic Society: The First Rosane Rocher Fifty Years 159 Gregory Schopen Regional Languages and the Law in Some Early North Indian Buddhist Monasteries and Convents 171 Martin Schwartz Sartha- and Other Caravan Words 179 Jonathan A. Silk The Nature of the Verses of the Kāśyapaparivarta 181 Nicholas Sims-Williams Some Bactrian Inscriptions on Silver Vessels 191 Peter Skilling Prakrit Prajñāpāramitās: Northwest, South, and Center: Gleanings from Avalokitavrata and Haribhadra 199 Ingo Strauch Inscribed Objects from Greater Gandhāra 209 Michael Willis Avalokiteśvara of the Six Syllables: Locating the Practice of the “Great Vehicle” in the Landscape of Central India 221

Review jongeward, errington, salomon, and baums. Gandharan Buddhist Reliquaries (Jason Neelis) 231

Books Received 237 Abbreviations 239

v Avalokiteśvara of the Six Syllables: Locating the Practice of the “Great Vehicle” in the Landscape of Central India*

Michael Willis british museum

The long-standing characterization of Buddhism not replaced or overshadowed by a temple, as hap- as a religion in decline after the Gupta period is pened at Bodhgayā and Sārnāth, and that when known to be fraught with inaccuracy. While there the temple was built at Sānchī it was relegated can be little doubt that the increasing influence of to the edge of the site, shows that a conservative Śaivism from the sixth century c.e. had a signifi- cult predominated there. Although some inscrip- cant impact on the religious life of northern In- tions hint at a Mahāyāna presence at Sānchī (Tsu- dia as a whole, the ongoing vitality of Buddhism kamoto 1996: nos. 915, 917), it is images from is well attested in eastern India where Nālandā other places in central India, such as Khajurāho, developed into a powerful monastic institution Mahoba, Unao and Bilhari, that are indicative of with trans-national networks across Asia (see, later and more mature trends within Buddhism for example, Sanderson 2009; Bronkhorst 2012; (see for example Desai 1996; Dikshit 1921; Wil- Willis 2013). In addition to the rising tide of the- lis 1996: 122). Among these is a large seated istic Hinduism in both its popular and esoteric Avalokiteśvara from Gyāraspur that awaits sys- forms, the decline of Buddhism is sometimes at- tematic study. It belongs to the eleventh century tributed to its retreat into large monasteries, a and is now in the museum at Bhopāl. development which resulted in the faith losing The ways in which followers of Mahāyāna es- touch with the population at large and so with its tablished themselves in the countryside around sources of patronage. These propositions, based Sānchī is shown by a cave in one of the ridges on a series of armchair assumptions, fall down be­ near Raisen, about ten kilometers from Sānchī. fore an examination of archaeological sites and The ridge in question is located to the north of sculptural remains, as Abhishek Amar’s recent Raisen town and is remarkable for the large natu- studies in the Bodhgayā region have shown (Amar ral pond on the hilltop that never goes dry, even 2012). Outside Bihar, similar conclusions can be in the summer. At the brow of the hill is a natural reached in central India where Buddhism contin- cavern, once the source of a spring. Around this ued to flourish at monastic centers, most notably cavern are rock-cut images of the Buddha and at Sānchī. A significant later addition at Sānchī is Tārā (figs. 2–3). The relief sculptures can be dated Temple 45. This building, dating to the last years to the eleventh century. These are the only rock- of the ninth century c.e., contains one of the cut Buddhist images in the region; they have not largest surviving Buddha images in India (fig. 1; been published previously. Willis 2000: no. 7). Sānchī was dominated by the Among the finds in one of the caves at this Hemavata school, at least until about the eighth site is a seated Buddha inscribed with the century c.e., so it can be regarded as a predomi- Pratītyasamutpādagāthā and a request that this nantly Theravāda place, problematic as that term meritorious gift (deyadharma) be for the wel- has recently become (Willis 2001; Gethin 2012: fare of all living beings (fig. 4). Given the poten- 1–63). Certainly the fact that the main caitya was tial interest of this record I asked my colleague

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Fig. 2. Cave shrine in the ridge north of Raisen (Madhya Pradesh, India) with rock-cut images of the Buddha and Tārā. Photo: M. Willis.

Fig. 1. Drawing of the seated Buddha in Sānchī temple 45 (Madhya Pradesh, India) by John Henry Bagnold in 1818–1819. Royal Asiatic Society 07.006.

Fig 3. Rock-cut image of Tārā at the cave-shrine north of Raisen (Madhya Pradesh, India), 11th c. Photo: M. Willis.

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Fig. 4. Inscribed pedestal of a seated Buddha in the cave shrine north of Raisen (Madhya Pradesh, India), 11th c. Photo: M. Willis.

­Dániel Balogh to see if he could make sense of it 2. t teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evamvādī in view of his expert knowledge of Paramāra pa- mahāśramaṇaḥ || deyadha leography. He very kindly supplied the following 3. rmmo yaṃ pravaramahāyānayāyinaḥ paramo­ reading.1 Discussion of the formulae used in this pāsaka record can be found in Cousins 2003 and Scho- 4. vaṭṭān˙ kasya || yad atra puṇyaṃ tad bhavatv pen 2005: 244. ācāryyopādhyāyamā 5. tāpitṛpūrvvan˙ gamaṃ kṛtvā sakalasatvarāser Text anu 6. ttarajñānaphalāvāptaya iti || 1. siddham2 || ye dha(r)mmā he[tu]prabhavā ­hetun te(s)ān tathāgato (h)y avāda Translation 2. n teṣā(ṃ) ca yo nirodha e(vaṃvā){dī}­ (ma)hāśra(va)ṇaḥ­ || deya{dha} Success! Those dharma-s that arise from a cause, 3. (r)mmo yaṃ pravaramahāyānayāyi(na)ḥ the Tathāgata has declared their cause, and that ­par­am(opā)saka which is the cessation of them. Thus the great 4. vāttaṃ3kasya yad a[tra] pu(ṇ)yaṃn tad renunciant has taught. This is the worthy gift bhava(t)v (a)cā(r)yopādhyāyamā of Vaṭṭān˙ ka (?), a devoted upāsaka among the 5. tāp(i)t(ṛ)pūrvva(n˙ ){ga}maṃ (kṛ)tvā saka[la] followers of the most excellent Mahāyāna. satvārās{e}r anu Whatever merit there is (in this gift), may it be for 6. {ttarajñānapha}(lāvā){pta}(ma?) i(t)i || the attainment of the fruit of supreme knowledge by all the multitude of living beings, having Emended Text placed first my preceptors, teachers and parents.

1. siddham || ye dharmmā hetuprabhavā hetun Although the inscription does not name a king teṣān tathāgato hy avada or give a date, it is important nonetheless from

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Fig. 5. Seated Ṣaḍakṣarī Avalokiteśvara (Madhya Pradesh, In- Fig. 6. Diagram identifying iconographic componnents of the dia), 11th c. British Museum Asia 1967,0213.1. British Museum Ṣaḍakṣarī Avalokiteśvara: 1. Avalokiteśvara; 2. Maṇidhara; 3. Ṣaḍakṣarī Mahāvidyā; 4. Stūpa; 5. Buddhas; 6. Nāga figures; 7. Donors and lay followers; 8. Guardians of the Ṣaḍakṣarī maṇḍala. the religious point of view. Its importance lies in the fact that it explicitly mentions that a lay fol- lower of Mahāyāna donated the image. With the The connection of central and eastern India, and rock-cut sculptures just mentioned, this shows the complexity of this later phase of Buddhism, is that the cave-shrine at Raisen was developed by illustrated by a sculpture now in the collection followers of Mahāyāna and thus that Mahāyāna of the British Museum. It is registered under the operated concurrently with Theravāda in the elev- number Asia 1967,0213.1, and measures 82.5 cm enth century, albeit at one remove from the most × 54.5 cm (fig. 5). In the rest of this article, I would important and oldest centers. While some finds at like examine this sculpture in detail and present Sānchī belonging to the post-Gupta period suggest a coeval text that helps explain the place of this that Mahāyāna enjoyed a presence there, as just iconography in esoteric Buddhist practice. noted, the Raisen finds demonstrate nonetheless Although the find-spot of the British Museum that Mahāyāna had its own holy places and a com- sculpture is not recorded, the style points to east- munity large enough to sponsor votive images. ern Madhya Pradesh, as does its greenish-grey The antiquity of this community is uncertain. sandstone. On the basis of style it can be assigned Given the archaeological traces found so far, it to about the middle of the eleventh century. The appears that Mahāyāna may have been present in iconographic elements are identified in the ac- Sānchī from the early centuries c.e., as attested by companying diagram (fig. 6). The central image a Kuṣāṇa-period head showing a Bodhisattva with is seated in padmāsana on a lotus; originally he a seated Buddha in the turban (Hamid et al. 1922: had a high crown and four arms. The two hands 38) and an inscription on the base of a Bodhisattva clasped in front of his chest once held a trailing image (Willis 1999–2000: 269–73). However, the garland. The second pair of arms are missing but corpus of imagery as a whole suggests that a sec- the hands, like the attendant deities, would have ond wave of Mahāyāna arrived in central India in held a lotus and a rosary. Below the lotus seat the eighth or ninth century, and especially in the are nāgas and kneeling donors, evidently lay fol- eleventh, during the heyday of Nālandā and other lowers (upāsaka). The main image is flanked by Buddhist establishments in eastern India. Maṇidhara (left) and Ṣaḍakṣarī Mahāvidyā (right),

224 willis: Avalokiteśvara of the Six Syllables identifications verified, as we shall see, by the text caturdvāreṣu catvāro mahārājāḥ; Chandra 1981: given below. Surrounding this triad there are two folio 136), I would venture to describe the corner cylindrical stūpas and five seated Buddhas. The figures in the British Museum sculpture as the fe- two stūpas represent, I suppose, the Buddha’s best male guardians (devakumārikā) of the maṇḍala. known disciples, Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana. In the lower left, curiously, there was not enough The five Buddhas are perhaps the human or stone so the sculptor has shown the guardian mānuṣi Buddhas, generally listed as Krakuc- with her hand on her knee and carved some sort chanda, Kanakamuni, Kāśyapa, Śākyamuni and of weapon in the pedestal. Maitreya. They could also be read as the celestial As is often the case with later Buddhist images, or anupapādaka Buddhas Vairocana, Ratnasam­ the Pratītyasamutpādagāthā (“Verse of the origi- bhava, Amoghasiddhi, Amitābha and Akṣobhya. nation of dependence”) is inscribed on the base. These are popularly called the “Dhyāni Buddhas,” The translation here follows Boucher (1991: 6). a tradition started by Brian Hodgson who was the The style of the nāgarī characters suggets a date British Resident in Nepal in the nineteenth cen- in the tenth or eleventh centuries c.e. tury (Hodgson 1972: pp. 27, 54, n. 3). From there the term was taken up by E. Burnouf (Burnouf Text 1876: 103) and Böhtlingk and Roth (1855–1875: s.v. dhyānibuddha; dhyāniboddhisattva). On 1. ye dharmmā hetuprabhavā hetuḥ teṣāṃ the English side, the idea was advanced by M. tath­āgato hyavada Monier-Williams in his Sanskrit-English Diction- 2. t | teṣāṃ yo nirodha evaṃ vādī mahāśra­ ary (1899: s.v. dhyāni). Dale E. Saunders (1962: va(ma)ṇaḥ || 300–306) has charted the history of the term and noted there is no textual warrant for it. The only Translation place it is found is in Hodgson’s “Questions” in his Essays (Hodgson 1972: 41ff). This gives the Those dharmas that arise from a cause, the impression of a direct quote from his informant Tathāgata has declared their cause, and that Vajrācārya Amṛtānanda, but much paraphras- which is the cessation of them. Thus the great ing is evident on close reading. In Amṛtānanda’s renunciant has taught. Dharmakośasaṃgraha (Chandra 1976), prepared at Hodgson’s request and now in the Asiatic The identification of the British Museum image Society, Calcutta, the term does not appear. In as Avalokiteśvara in the special form of Ṣadakṣarī folios 15 and 16 of the text, dhyāni is not used is based on Tibetan material in which the iconog- where the five Buddhas are discussed but it raphy frequently occurs. A painted card in the does appear in folio 169: ato dhyānibodhisat[t] British Museum, numbered Asia 1895,0117.0.10, vaḥ dhyānātsamutpannavān. Given this, Saun- shows the same deity, identified by a Tibetan in- ders’s argument is perhaps over drawn and we are scription on the reverse as SPYAN RAS GZIGS, i.e., obliged, I think, to note the cautious observation Avalokiteśvara. In a compendium entitled Icons of Zwalf who said: “The expression has no known Worthy to See, originating in an empowerment cer- textual justification and is due to Brian Hodg- emony carried out in Mongolia in 1810 by the Pan- son, British resident in Kathmandu in the early chen Lama, this same form is shown and labeled nineteenth century who may nevertheless have SPYAN RAS GZIGS YI GE DRUG PA JO BO LUGS, heard or read it” (Zwalf 1981: 60–61). Recently i.e., the six-syllabled Avalokiteśvara in the tradition this problem has been revisited by Bühnemann of Atīśa (Willson and Brauen 2000: no. 100). The il- (forthcoming). lustration shows and labels Avalokiteśvara flanked Turning back to the British Museum sculpture, by Maṇidhara and Ṣaḍakṣarī Mahāvidyā. The an- the final elements needing attention are the female tiquity of the grouping receives textual authoriza- figures at the extremities, top and bottom, each in tion from the sādhana of Āryaṣaḍakṣarīmahāvidyā padmāsana and each holding lotus stalks and var- in the Sādhanamālā that says Maṇidhara should ious weapons (fig. 6). Based on theKāraṇḍavyūha appear on the left of Lokeśvara and Ṣaḍakṣarī and the account it gives of the four guardian Mahāvidyā on the right. By way of conclusion, I kings of the ṣaḍakṣarī maṇḍala(i.e., maṇḍalasya turn now to that text.

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The Sādhanamālā is a book of north Indian visualization. The Indian images, therefore, seem devotions in which a large number of Buddhist to be commemorative memorials to those who ac- deities are invoked and described. The oldest tually undertook the practice. This is confirmed copy of the text used by Benoytosh Bhattacharya by the donor couples that appear at the base of for his critical edition was dated 1165 c.e. (Bhat- the British Museum image (fig. 6). These figures tacharya 1925–1928: xi), so we can safely assume are members of the laity, who were inspired to that the Sādhanamālā was an active ritual text make the image in order to celebrate the visual- in the eleventh century and, more particularly, ization and generate merit. In other words, the that the sādhana of Āryaṣaḍakṣarīmahāvidyā can donor figures shown in the sculpture provide a vi- be used to explain the perception and use of the sual link to the inscription on the Raisen pedestal British Museum image. The only work on the where the name of the donor is actually given. Sādhanamālā subsequent to Bhattacharya was The wider social world of these images and the undertaken by Ruriko Sakuma. He prepared an people named or pictured in them are a subject edition of the Avalokiteśvara sādhana texts draw- with much potential. The Upāsakajanālaṅkara, ing on Sanskrit and Tibetan sources (Sakuma a handbook for the Buddhist laity written in 2003). This has the advantage of giving all the south India in the second half of the twelfth cen- relevant sādhanas in one place with the parallel tury c.e., could be taken as a starting point. It was translations in Tibetan. He did not, however, of- composed to supersede the Paṭipattisaṅgaha, fer translations into English. a work that exists only in manuscript in Japan Although the critical edition of the Sādha­ (Hinüber 1996: § 386). North Indian material in namālā was published by Bhattacharya many de- Sanskrit is also available (Agostini 2003). Out- cades ago, there has been no attempt, as far as side the Buddhist fold, analogous material makes I am aware, to translate any of the meditations, up the Śivadharmaśāstra, a corpus that sets out other than the Kiñcitvistaratārāsādhana trans- the religious obligations and ritual activities of lated by Bhattacharya himself (Bhattacharya lay followers of Śiva. Apart from the recent and 1924: 169–75). Elsewhere Bhattacharya provided somewhat flawed survey by Paolo Magone (2004), abstracts, but only of the portions that help ex- these works are effectively unstudied. Taken with plain iconographic features. In essence, art histo- the Buddhist texts, this material offers an histor- rians have drawn on the descriptions to identify ical sociology beyond the monasteries and royal the iconography of esoteric Buddhist images, but courts of the medieval world. the texts as a whole, or in part, have not been To close this essay, I give the text and trans- studied. This sad state of affairs may be put down lation of the Āryaṣaḍakṣarīmahāvidyā sādhana. to the fact that while the terminology and San- This is presented in an interlinear fashion so the skrit are not difficult, in places the meaning and meaning of the text, or at least my understand- syntax are obscure. This discourages persever- ing of it, can be directly compared to the original ance, especially as the potential result, i.e., some (the text given here appears in Bhattacharya’s insight into late esoteric visualizations, has not Sādhanamālā as number 6). I would like to thank seemed worth the effort. The increasing interest Whitney Cox and Mattia Salvini for the helpful in ritual praxis, however, should bring us back suggestions on the text and its translation. to these materials. The translation offered here can be regarded as an attempt to show that the āryaṣaḍakṣarīmahāvidyāyai namaḥ sādhanas are not lacking in useful data for the student of religion. Of immediate note for the art “Obeisance to the noble Ṣaḍakṣarī Mahāvidyā” historian is the fact that although late medieval images seem to match the sādhana descriptions ādau tāvan mantrī sukhāsanopaviṣṭaḥ mukhaśau­ ­ closely, there is nothing in the texts stating that cādikaṃ kṛtvā svahṛdi candrasthasitahrīḥkāravi­ images should serve as meditation aids. This is nirgataraśmibhir gurubuddhabodhisattvān purato not true in eastern Asia where texts in Chinese buddhādīn dṛṣṭvā sampūjyatriśaraṇagamanādikaṃ instruct practitioners to look at images as part of kuryād ratnatrayaṃ me śaraṇam ity ādinā || the meditation process. In late medieval India, however, the texts that I have examined do not “To begin, the mantra-practioner, sitting com­ say that painted or carved images are integral to fortably, cleanses his mouth and so forth and

226 willis: Avalokiteśvara of the Six Syllables then, in his heart, visualizes the Buddha [Dharma as passion, that have been accumulated from and San˙ gha] in the presence of the Buddhas, the eternity.” Bodhisattvas and his guru by means of rays issu- ing from the white syllable HRĪḤ set in the moon. tat punas tatraiva praveśayet | He should then perform the going to refuge in the respected triple gem and the rest by saying: ‘The “Afterward he should make (the syllable) return three jewels are my refuge, etc’.” right there (to his heart).”5 yāvantaḥ sattvāḥ sattvasaṃgraheṇa saṃgṛhītāḥ tat pariṇatam ātmānaṃ lokeśvararūpam sarvā­ aṇḍajā vā jarāyujā vā saṃsvedajā vā aupapādukā lan˙ kārabhūṣitaṃ śuklavarṇaṃ caturbhujaṃ vā rūpiṇo vā arūpiṇo vā saṃjñino vā asaṃjñino vāma­taḥ padmadharaṃ, dakṣiṇato akṣasūtra­ vā naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñino vā yāvān kaścit sat­ dharaṃ, aparābhyāṃ hastābhyāṃ hṛdi saṃpu­ tvadhātuḥ prajñapyamānaḥ prajñapyate sarve ṭāñja­lishti­taṃ dhyāyāt | mayā anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇadhātau pratiṣṭhāpayi­ tavyā iti || “Then he should mediate on himself transformed in the form of Lokeśvara, white of color, orna- [And pronouncing the Bodhisattva vow]:4 “What­ever mented with every decoration, four armed, on the beings (yāvantaḥ sattvāḥ) are included (saṃgṛhitāḥ) left holding a lotus, on the right holding a rosary, in the totality of existence (sattvasaṃgraheṇa), the lower two hands cupped in front of the heart;” whether born from eggs, wombs (jarāyujā), sweat or self-generated (aupapādukā), whether corpo- dakṣiṇe maṇidharaṃ tadvadvarṇabhujānvitaṃ real or non-corporeal, conscious, unconscious or padmāntaroparisthaṃ vāme tataivāparapadma­ neither conscious nor unconscious, and whatever sthāṃ ṣaḍakṣarīmahāvidyām | other domain of life that is known to be known (sattvadhātuḥ prajñapyamā­naḥ prajñapyate), by “On the right, seated on a lotus, Maṇidhara, of me all of them shall be established in the domain similar color and (number of) arms; on the left, of nirvāṇawithout a remainder.” seated on a lotus in the exact same manner, Ṣaḍakarī Mahāvidyā.” tataḥ oṃ svabhāvaśuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ sva­ bhāvaśuddho ‘haṃ iti vāratrayam uccārayet | tataḥ oṃ mahāsukha vajrasattva jaḥ huṃ vaṃ hoḥ suratas tvaṃ alalalalala hoḥ aḥ aḥ aḥ aḥ ity adhiṣthānamantrarājam uccārayet | “Then he should pronounce thrice as follows: ‘OṂ all phenomena are pure by nature, I am pure “Then he should pronounce the king of empow- by nature’.” erment mantras: MAHĀSUKHA VAJRASATTVA JAḤ HUṂ VAṂH OḤ SURATAS TVAṂ ALALA- tadanu śūnyatāṃ muhūrtam ālambayet | LALALA HOḤ AḤ AḤ AḤ AḤ.”

“Afterward, for a moment, he should take empti- evaṃ dhyātvā tato lokeśvarātmahṛdayacandra­ ness (śūnyatā) as his point of reference.” maṇḍalād akṣasūtrākāraṃ śuklavarṇaṃ mukhena nirgatya nābhau praviśantaṃ cakrabhramaṇa­ tad anantaraṃ svahṛdaye sitapadmopari candra­ yogena imaṃ mantrarājaṃ sarvabuddhahṛdayaci maṇḍalaṃ tasyopari sitahrīḥ kāraṃ tato niś­ ntāmaṇikalpaṃ paśyed animittayogena | carad­ anekaraśmiśatasahasraṃ dhyātvā, tena sarvasattvānām aśeṣānādikālasañcitaṃ rāgādi “Having meditated so, he should then visualize kleśasamūhaṃ viśodhyante | this king of mantras in the form of a rosary, white in color, coming out of his mouth from the lunar “Thereupon, he meditates on a lunar circle set circle set in the heart of Lokeśvara himself and on top of a white lotus in his own heart and, on entering [his] navel in the manner of a rotating top of that, the white syllable HRĪḤ emanating wheel. And he should see, in a manner that is uncounted thousands of rays. That purifies the empty, the king of mantras as a wishing-fulfilling aggregate afflictions of all sentient beings, such stone in the heart of all the Buddhas.”

227 willis: Avalokiteśvara of the Six Syllables tato japaṃ kṛtvā6 bhramaṇapraveśanādikaṃ It is also my pleasant duty to thank the British Mu- prā­pyācireṇaiva kālena śrāddhaḥ kṛpāvān guru­ seum for unfailing institutional support. bhakto yogī sidhyati | oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ iti 1. ( ) = uncertain readings jāpamantraḥ || { } = illegible text supplied conjecturally [ ] = omitted akṣaras supplied conjecturally “Then performing a japa, having achieved the 2. Expressed as a symbol. [aforementioned] rotating and entering [of the 3. The anusvāra is placed after the letters, not above mantra] etc., the yogī, compassionate, faithful the line; possibly read name as Vaṭṭāṃka. and devoted to his guru,succeeds in a truly short 4. This Bodhisattva vow is quoted directly from the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra 3 (Vaidya 1961: 3). time. The japa mantra is: OṂ MAṆI PAME 5. In other words, when the syllable with its many rays HŪM.” goes out and purifies all sentient beings, it should thereaf- ter return to the practitioner’s heart. This understanding tata utthānakāle imaṃ mantrarājam uccāryot­ is based on the parallel in one of the Tibetan translations: tiṣṭhet | YI GE DE NYID RANG GI SNYING GAR BCUG PAS, “that syllable he should insert in his own heart.” “Then, when it is time to get up (from medita- 6. The syntax does not seem to be completely logi- cal; the Tibetan translations do not transmit the words tion), having spoken this king of mantras, he japaṃ kṛtvā, suggesting this insertion took place after should rise saying:” the text was transmitted. oṃ vajrasattva samayam anupālaya vajrasattva­ tvenopatiṣṭha,­ dṛḍho me bhava, sutoṣyo me References bhava, supoṣyo me bhava, anurakto me bhava, sarvasiddhiṃ me prayaccha, sarvakarmasu ca me Agostini 2003 G. Agostini. “On the cittaṃ śreyaḥ kuru huṃ ha ha ha ha hoḥ bhaga- Nikāya Affiliation of the van sarvatathāgatavajra mā me muñca, vajrībhava Śrīghanācārasan˙ graha mahāsamayasattva āḥ | and the Sphuṭārthā Śrīghanācarāsan˙ grahaṭīkā.” JIABS “OṂ Vajrasattva! Preserve the pledge! Be present 26.1: 97–114. Amar 2012 A. S. Amar. “Buddhist Re- as Vajrasattva! Be steadfast for me! Be content in sponses to Brāhmaṇa Chal- me! Be fulfilled for me! Be loving to me! Bestow lenges in Medieval India: all powers on me! Make my thought better in all Bodhgayā and Gayā.” JRAS deeds! HUṂ HA HA HA HA HOḤ. Lord! Vajra of 22.1: 155–85. all the Tathāgatas, abandon me not! Be the bearer Bhattacharya 1924 B. Bhattacharya. Indian Bud­ of the immutable, oh being of the great pledge! dhist Iconography. Oxford. ĀḤ.” Bhattacharya . Ed. Sādhanamālā. 1925–1928 2 vols. Baroda. evam uktvā yathāsukhaṃ vihared iti | Böhtlingk and Roth O. von Böhtlingk and G. Roth. 1855–1875 Sanskrit Wörterbuch. 7 vols. Saint Petersburg. “Having spoken thus, let him go at his pleasure.” Boucher 1991 D. Boucher. “The Pratītyasamutpādagāthā and Its āryaṣaḍakṣarīmahāvidyāsādhanaṃ samāptam | Role in the Medieval Cult of Relics.” JIABS 14: 1–27. Bronkhorst 2012 J. Bronkhorst. Buddhism in sādhana “The of Mahāvidyā of the noble Ārya­ the Shadow of Brahmanism. ṣaḍakṣarī is concluded.” Leiden. Burnouf 1876 e. Burnouf. Introduction à l’histoire du Buddhisme in­ Notes dien. 2nd ed. Paris. Bühnemann G. Bühnemann. “A dhāraṇī for * The research and fieldwork for this article was car- forthcoming each Day of the Week: The ried out under projects funded by the British Academy saptavāra Tradition of the and Leverhulme Trust to whom many thanks are due. Newar Buddhists.” BSOAS.

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